Hinge for swinging doors



Dec. '20, 1927.

1,653,160 T. P. EPIRIGHT HINGE FOR SWINGING DOORS Filed July l, 1925 ZASheets-Sheet l 915 11H51? 14 tw@ CUR, ness MW (j Dec. 20, 1927.'

fr. P. ENRIGHT l HINGE FOR SWINGING DOORS Filed July 1, 1925 2 sheets-snm 2 lli Tufn or.

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Patented Dec. 20, 1927.

UNITED STATES Y 1,653,160 PIA TENT) olf-F1012.

THOMAS P. ENRIGHT, OF STERLINGQVILLINOIVS, -ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALFTO JOHN 'H. LAW'RENCE AND) ONE-HALF TO EDWIN F. LAWRENCE, 0F STERLING, ILLINOIS.y

HINGE ron SWINGING DooRs.

Appncatinn med nur; 1, 41925. seriai N0. 40,752.

My invention relates to hinges of thety'pe commonly used on swingingdoors tomake the door self closing, andwhile, as will hereinafter appear, I have shown my invention embodied in ak double acting hinge of that type, it may also be applied to hinges used on doors arrangedtoopen in only one'direction. Such. hinges are usually applied to the lower inner corner of the door and comprise astationary pivot secured to theloor, preferably by means of a, floor plate, about which hinge pivot the door swings, a simple pivot in alinement therewith being provided for the upper inner corner of the door. This arrangement is vshown in the drawings, exceptthat the upper pivot is not shown, as the arrangement of suoli pivots is Well understood. In hinges of the type referred to as heretofore constructed, it has been the practice to make the lower or hinge pivot in the form of a stud fiXedly secured at its lower end to the floor plate and journaled at its upper end in a'fraine or housing in which is mounted av spring actuated plunger v arranged to cooperate with a cross-head carried by the stud near its upper end in such manner that swinging of theidoor in either direction would move the plunger longitudinally in a direction to compress avstiif coiled spring, which when the door was released would restore it to its closedposition. lVhile such springs have operated very satisfactorily for a time,'the end thrust lof the plunger under the action oflthe spring was sustained by the upper bea-ring of the stud, and consequently in the course of time Such upper bearing would become enlarged by wear so tliat'the rdoor would not be held in its proper position, but would sag. and therefore would not operate smoothly, To avoid this objection by relieving the upper bearing of the` lower pivot ofl the strains tending to enlarge such bearing, is vthe principal object of my present invention. Another' object is toimprove 'the construction and operation ofhinges of this type, as will hereinafter be more definitely pointed out.

I accomplish these objects as illustrated in` the accompanying. drawings and as liereinafter described. What Iregard as new is set forth in the claims. K s o In the accompanying drawings-'-` Fig. lis a side elevation of the lower po1`- tionof a door showing` my improved hinge in place thereon, fpart of one ofthe cover vplates being broken away;

Fig; '2 'is a. central longitudinal vertical sectional View of the parts shown in Fig. 1, beingsubstantially a section on lineI2-2 of Fig. 3;

Figl'l is a horizontal section online 343 o-fJFig. 2; y y

Fig., l is a similarview showing'thefposi-l tion of the parts whenkthe door has been i opened to the fullest extent, 'at which time position, fas will be it is loclred'in its open hereinafter lexplained y o Fig. 5 is' a4 vertical vcross-section on line Fig.v Gis a perspectiveyview of the `stud which forms the pivot for the lower inner corner fof the door; and

Fig."7is'a perspective view ofthe bearing plate that formspartr of the hinge struc- K ture.

Referring `to the kdrawings,`--8 indicates the door, they lower corner only of which is shown.' Said corneris cut away, as shown in Fig. 2, to receivepthe spring which is sponding substantially in dimensions vwith the cut-away portion of the door. An'upright'stop plate 11 is secured tothe horizontalportions of the bars 9, 10 adjacent to the outer endsthereof totalre the end thrustV of the Vspring hereinafter described, and also to serve as a support and guideforthe outer end of'theplunger bywhich such spring is compressed.k Ihave used the term outer as referring to the .ends of the bars 9, l0 that are farthest from the inner margin of the door, and this applies also to the plunger.

n Extending longitudinallyof the frame or housing is an endwise movable plunger 12, the'outer'end portion of which is smooth and slides freely ina bearing 13 in theplate l1, while the intermediate portion thereof is screw-threaded, as shown at 12a in Fig. 2, and is ladapted to receive an adjusting nut greater tension by moving the plunger endwise to the left as viewedin Fig.' 2. The

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inner end of the plunger is provided with a cross-head 1G disposed horizontally'and having end portions 17, 18 provided with concave recesses, as best shown in Fig. 4.

This crossehead is adapted to cooperate with a stationary cross-head comprising a pair ot rollers 19, 2O mounted on vertically disposed pins 21, 22, respectively that are secured between an upper disc or plate 23 and a lower disc or plate 24 as best shown inFig. 5. These two discs are non-rotatably supported by a stud 25 that forms the lower pivot ot the door and extends through the bar 9, and across the frame, substantially perpendicularly to the plunger 12, its lower end being fixed'ly secured to a tloor plate 26. The upper end ot said stud is journaled in a suitable bearing provided in the bar 10, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Preferably the disc 2A is in the form of an integral annular' flange carried by the stud 25, as shown in Fig. 5, and the dise 23 is a separate plate fitted on a non-circular portion 25aM of the stud 25 and connected with the disc 24: by means of a depending arm 27 that extends through a slot 2S inthe latter disc, as shown in Fig. 2 so that it is non-rotatably connected therewith. Thus as the stud 25 is non-rotatably secured to the tioor plate 26, the crosshead comprising the rollers 19, 2O is held against rotation. As illustrated in Fig. 5 the lower disc 241- is swaged out of the body of the stud 25, and that portion ot the stud immediately above said disc is squared toreceive the upper disc 23 which lies a short distance from the upper end of the stud. The upper end of the stud is rounded for pivotal engagement with the upper horizon tal member of the hinge frame. The depending arni 27 ot' the upper disc 23, as above explained, forms a connection between `the two discs which holds the upper disc securely against relative rotation on the stud and prevents wear between the disc 23 and the stud. As shown in Fig. 3, the rollers 19, 2O lie in a vertical plane that is at right angles to the plunger 12 when the door is closed, and they are so positioned that the arms 17, 18 ot the plunger cross-head 16 will bear against them at that time. It will be manifest, thereiore, that when the door is swung in either direction from its closed position, one or the other et the rollers 19, 20 will act on the corresponding arm 17 or 18 to move the plunger 12 endwise in a direction to compress the spring 15, and therefore the spring will tend to close the door.

For relieving the upper bearing of the stud ot' the strains incident to the end thrust of the plunger 12, l provide a series of upright rollers 29 which bear against the stud 25 below the disc 24- and extend from said disc down to the upper surface ot the bar 9 on Vwhich they rest. Said rollers are confined and held in proper relation to the stud 25 by means of a sleeve 30 that encireles said rollers and is secured to the bar 9 by means ot a plate 31 from which it rises. Said plate is provided with marginal flanges 32 spaced apart a distance equal to the width of the bar 9, so that said plate is adapted to lit upon said bar to which it is secured in any suitable way, as by a rivet 33. As best shown in Fig. 1, the plate 31 abuts against the inner or adjacent end of the hinge frame so that the end thrust incident to the compression of the spring 15 that occurs when the door is swung open is resisted by the -cnd ot the hinge trame as well as by the rivet 233, and, therefore, the plate 31 cannot move endwise relatively to said traine. It will be seen from the foregoing description that the rollers 29 are supported iy the hinge frame, and that they support the stud 25 against lateral deeetion by reason ot the end thrust ot the plunger 12. In a door hinge of this type ordinarily a pressure of approximately six hundred pounds is exerted by the swinging of the door, which tends to pull the hinge trame to the lett as viewed in Fig. 2 against the vertical pivot 25u. The result is that the top and bottom plates ot the hinge trame tend to cut into the pivot, and it that tendency is not counteracted, in a short time the pivot is cut into deeply, it not entirely eut off. Besides, the holes in the frame members through which the pivot passes are enlarged so that the hinge does not worl properly. My improved construction prevents movement of the hinge frame transversely of the axis oi the pivot in response to the end thrustcreated by the compression ot the spring 15, since the rollers 29 have an extended bearing on the pivot 'parallel with its axis and as they are iirmlyrsupported by the hinge trame through the sleeve 30 such cut ting action cannot occur. The rollers 29 are placed loosely in the sleeve 30, which is concentric with the axis or' the stud or hinge pivot, a sutiicient number being used to completely surround the stud so that, in addition to protecting the stud or pivot against cutting as above explained, they also serve as a roller bearing interposed between the in-A termediate portion thereof and th-e trame of the hinge.

To provide stops tor limiting the extentv to which the door may be swung open in either direction, the plate 31 is provided at opposite sides with lugs 34, 35 that are adapted to cooperate with the lower end portion ot the arm 27 tor thatpurpose, as best shown in Fig. 4. Said lugs are preferably integralv with the sleeve 39 which is integral with the plate 31 and as said plate is lirmly secured to the lower member 9 of the hinge trame they are held in position very securely. Also, as will be seen from said gure, when the door is swung open to the standpoint, as well as one that operates eiiiciently not only in making up the stationary cross-head, but also as a stop to limit the extent to which the door may be opened.

My improved hinge construction, above described, is particularly well adapte-d for hinges designed to be applied to the lower inner corner of a door, but my invention is not limited to a hinge designedV for use at that point, or to hinges for doors only, as it may be used in any situation for which it is adapted, and the claims hereinafter made are therefore to be construed accordingly.

In the construction illustrated the weight of the door is supported at the bottom by ball bearings comprising a cup plate 36 mounted on the floor plate 26, balls 37 carried by said cup plate, and a cone 38 interposed between the balls and the lower bar 9 ot the hinge trame, as best shown in Fig. 5.

The hinge is enclosed at the sides by cover plates 39 secured to the door. Said plates are alike in shape, and are symmetrical, so that they are interchangeable.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire'to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A spring hinge for doors comprising a frame, an endwise movable plunger mounted therein, a compression spring thrusting against the plunger and the frame, a stationary pivot extending across the frame substantially perpendicularly to the plunger, a stationary cross-head carried by saidpivot comprising upper and lower discs non-rotatably carried thereby and spaced apart, and rollers mounted between said discs, said cross-head serving to actuate said plunger to compress said spring when the door .is opened, and means carried by one of said discs and engaging the other for holding said discs against relative rotation.

2. A spring hinge for doors comprising a frame, an endwise movable plunger mounted there-in, a compression spring thrusting against the plunger and the trame, a stationary pivot extending across the frame substantially perpendicularly to the plunger, a stationary cross-head carried by said pivot comprising a lower disc lnon-rotatably carried by said pivot, an upper disc non-rotatably secured to the upper end portion of said i pivot and having a depending arm non-rotatably engaging the lower disc, and rollers mounted between said discs at opposite sides of said pivot for actuating said plunger to compress said spring when the door is opened.

3. A spring hinge for doors comprising a frame, an endwise movable plunger mounted therein, a compression spring thrusting against the plunger and the frame, astationary pivot extending across the frame substantially perpendicularly to the plunger, a stationary cross-head carried by said pivot comprising a lower disc integral with said pivot, an upper disc separate from and nonrotatably secured to the upper end portion ot said pivot, said upper disc having a depending arm non-rotatably engaging said lower disc, and rollers mounted between said discs at opposite sides of said pivot for actuating said plunger to compress said spring when the door is opened.

Ll. A spring hinge for doors comprising a frame, an endwise movable plunger mounted therein, a compression spring thrusting against the plunger and the frame, a stationary pivot extending across the yframe substantially perpendicularly to the plunger, a stationary cross-head carried by said pivot comprising a lower disc non-rotatably carried by said pivot, an upper disc non-rotatably secured to the upper end portion of said pivot and having `a depending arm nonrotatably engaging the lower disc and extending down below the same, rollers mounted between said discs at opposite sides oi said pivot for actuating said plunger to compress said springwhen the door is opened, andixed stops secured to the :trame at opposite sides of said pivot and adapted to be engaged by the lower end portion of said arm for limiting the extent to which the door may be opened.

5. A spring hinge for doors comprising a. frame, an endwise movable plunger mounted therein, a compression spring thrusting vagainst the plunger andthey frame, a stationary pivot extending across the frame substantially perpendicularly to the plunger, a stationary cross-head carried by said pivot comprisinga lower disc non-rotatably carried by said pivot, an upper disc non-rotatably secured to the upper end portion of said pivot and having a depending arm non-rotatably engaging the lower disc and extending down below the same, rollers mounted between said discs at opposite sides of said pivot for 'actuating said plunger .to compress said spring when the door is opened, a sleeve secured to said frame concentrically with the axis of said pivot, and stops carried by said sleeve at` opposite sid s of said pivot and adapted yto be engagedby the lower end portion of said arm to limit the extent to which the door may be opened.

'n THOMAS RENRIGHT. 

